The present invention relates to fighting outdoor fires and particularly to a tool set useful for fighting fires in different types of terrain and vegetation.
With increasing movements of U.S. wildfire firemen from one geographic region to another the need for a better firefighting hand tool has evolved.
There are three major wildfire regions in North America. These regions are the east, west, and northern wildfire ecosystems. Each region has its own season, and traditional tools and tactics have evolved in each region. Most firefighters brought to one of these regions from another are not already aware of how different these regions are from each other. Coordinators moving firefighting crews from one region to another are themselves often unaware of these differences.
Wildfire fighters in eastern hardwood areas generally use a fire rake or council tool. In the eastern pine and grass areas of the south a fire beater similar to a rubber mud flap on the end of a wooden pole is often the tool of choice, but such a tool is not well adapted for use in areas where undergrowth or tree branches are close together, because of the width of the tool.
In the west, the Pulaski, shovel, and McLeod are the predominantly used hand tools, and surface vegetable material usually needs to be scraped away to leave a non-flammable fire break.
In the arctic and subarctic ecosystems of Canada and Alaska, burlap bags used as swatters are the main tool in tundra, but they do not last long in use, and spare bags carried by firefighters are hazardous as they often are ignited.
In black spruce taiga ecosystems long knives are needed to cut down black spruce trees and trim them into swatters which are the main initial attack tools, and Pulaskis are the rule for mop-up work. However, spruce trees are not always available, and a great deal of time and energy can be wasted searching for suitable trees, which do not last very long in use, anyway. Additionally, the sharp-edged tool required for cutting such trees can be dangerous to the firefighter.
Particularly in remote or steep terrain it is difficult for a firefighter to have to carry several long-handled tools, such as different types of axes, shovels, rakes, and hoes, to the scene of a fire. Furthermore, it is difficult to keep such tools close at hand for fighting a fire moving through differing types of vegetation and ground cover.
For wildfire fighters to be ready to do their work, they need to have all the necessary tools readily available when they are transported to a fire in any type of terrain likely to encountered in the geographical region where they are to be working. In places where heavy layers of grass roots and the like are found, shovels, grub hoes, and scrapers may not be very useful and fire may have to be beaten down to be extinguished. In other situations trees and brush need to be cut to prevent spreading of fire, and a firefighter may need an axe to be effective. However, cutting small low brush with an axe usually results in quick dulling of the axe blade as it encounters dirt and stones on the ground beneath thin branches.
Once flames have been extinguished the "black line" around a burned area has to be checked to discover, extinguish, and cool embers, to prevent rekindling of the fire. Tools available previously have been intended for specific types of firefighting, but even then are not well adapted to user comfort, requiring users to bend over much or most of the time during use of the previously available tools. This is tiring, resulting in much time needed to rest frequently, and less accomplished than would be possible with tools more comfortable to use.
What is needed, then, is a universal fire tool to arm firefighters so that with this one tool they will be prepared to fight wildfires in any fire-supporting ecosystem and will be more effective, comfortable and indeed safer, under a variety of differing conditions.
One disadvantage of many previously available firefighting tools is that they have been equipped with wooden handles which are too susceptible to breakage during use and loosen because of changing humidity, requiring a great cost in labor and material for replacements. Another disadvantage is that many tools limit firefighters to a single function, so they often do not have the flexibility to respond with the best function to extinguish the fire. For example, in the West, a fire-fighter equipped with only a normal shovel is committed to a very uncomfortable and inefficient tool for scraping fire line. If a cutting device is needed, such a shovel is incapable. Conversely, a firefighter armed with a Pulaski has a good cutting implement but a poor and uncomfortable scraping device, and the firefighter is unable to throw dirt with a Pulaski to knock down heat. Presently, there is no one effective, durable and user-comfortable tool for all western fires.
Another aspect of many previously available firefighting tools for fighting fires in wilderness is that they are likely to become snagged on vegetation and cause a firefighter to fall, particularly when the fire-fighter is tired and hiking out from the scene of a fire. Particularly when going down steep inclines carrying a shovel, an axe, or a Pulaski, a misstep could result in a fall and serious injury. When a firefighter attempts to break a fall by reaching backward, carried tools may cause cuts, or a fall may result in a broken arm, sprained wrist, bruises, or serious injuries from sharp-edged tools being carried, regardless of edge guards intended to be kept on the tools when they are not in use.
What is needed, then, is a way for a firefighter to carry, and to carry safely, all the tools likely to be needed for effectively fighting a wilderness fire. It should be possible for a firefighter safely to carry the tools necessary to cut trees, branches, and small brush, to dig, scrape, and rake the ground and low-growing vegetation to create a fire line in different types of vegetation and soil, or to beat down flames effectively in grass and low vegetation. It should be possible to perform these tasks all in more comfortable positions and with tools which are safer, stronger, more durable than previously available tools and which include functional options. It should also be possible for such tools to be carried conveniently, so that they are not lost or separated from one another and can be carried away from the fire site safely through steep, rough, and heavily vegetated terrain.
With firefighting crews also being hired for tree planting, and silviculture missions of all types, it is also desirable to have a compatible tool adapted to use in tree planting operations.